Good Luck, Bad Luck

Many years ago, a wise peasant lived in China. He had a son who was the apple of his eye and a fine white stallion, which everyone admired. One day his horse escaped from his grounds and disappeared. The villagers came to him one by one and said, “You are such an unlucky man. It is such bad luck that your horse escaped.” The peasant responded, “Maybe it’s good luck. Maybe it’s bad luck. Who knows?”

The next day the stallion returned from the wilderness followed by 12 wild horses. The neighbors visited him again and congratulated him for his luck. “Oh how lucky you are!”, they said. Again, he just said, “Maybe it’s good luck. Maybe it’s bad luck. Who knows?”

The next day his son attempted to break one of the wild horses when he fell and severely broke his leg. Once more, everyone came with their condolences. “It’s terrible luck this happened to your son.” Again, he replied, “Maybe it’s good luck. Maybe it’s bad luck. Who knows?”

A few days passed and his poor son was limping around the village with his broken leg, when the Emperor’s warriors entered the village announcing that a war was starting and they required all the young men of the village to join the army. However, upon seeing the son’s broken leg, they left him behind. Everyone was extremely jealous and angry of the peasant’s good fortune. They talked about his sheer good luck, while the old man just muttered, “Maybe it’s good luck. Maybe it’s bad luck. Who knows?”

Author Unknown

* * * * *
Sometimes things happen to us or around us that immediately seem either good or bad. Be careful jumping to conclusions. Something that seems horrible at the time might be the catalyst to something greater. And something seemingly great might be danger in disguise. When things happen, we have no way of knowing how they’ll really turn out. What we do have control over is how we react – and that reaction may ultimately determine the true outcome.

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4 Comments

Well said! This is one of my favorite stories so thanks for reminding me of it. Living in Sea Bright, New Jersey, I am now dealing with the aftermath if Hurricane Sandy. This story mirrors my attitude to the storm…basically that it’s not all bad luck. There have bee many wonderful moments in the midst of disaster.